A Weekly Diary of How my Dog Carl Inspires Me to Grow Spiritually

Caged Anger

Bee, my other French Bull dog would not stop barking. Carl and I were at a neighbor’s house and I couldn’t concentrate due to the constant high pitched bark that was coming from my yard. I had an idea of what she was barking at but wouldn’t know for sure until Carl and I went home to investigate.

Since the evacuation of my grandchildren, son-in-law, and animals from Wilmington, North Carolina on September 12th, their cat had been missing. He escaped once he got out of his crate and hasn’t since been seen. We placed a notice on our neighborhood website but the cat has only made one appearance.

Trying to catch the cat, my husband placed a live trap out behind our back yard in hopes of catching Henry and returning him to his home. Yesterday afternoon, the trap was checked and sure enough an animal had been caught.

Live traps can be tricky. They don’t guarantee the animal you are pursuing will be the one that is caught. Just like animal traps, life can have its own set of snares that we can end up in with no likely way out.

Anger can be perceived as a trap in life that is hard to get out of. Once we have been wronged we can enter its hold and believe there are no options but to stay entrapped by the tentacles of strong emotions.

James 4:1-2 in the Message version of the Bible puts it this way. “Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.”

Anger is defined as the appalling wars and quarrels that battle within our hearts. We usually want something that we can’t have or am furious over the fact that something happened that we can’t change.

So how do we free ourselves from the cage of this insidious trap? We pray. We go to God and ask for a grateful heart. We stay on our knees so that He can reveal to us the changes that need to be made in our souls. Only through prayer and reading the scriptures can we find the key that opens the cage of anger.

My husband called me over once I returned from my neighbors to find a possum trapped inside the cage that was intended for Henry. The possum was not very happy and hissed at all of us as we stared at the wild animal.

Thankfully, after being released, the possum’s scent evaporated into the air and Bee stopped barking. She finally made her way into the house and clambered into her bed where she had a peaceful night sleep.

Dear Lord, help us to be more like our furry friends and let go and take hold of the peace that you want so desperately for us to enjoy.

Post navigation

2 thoughts on “Caged Anger”

Very good write-up. It’s so true that we can dig in our heals and fight for our own way, ending up angry when we don’t get it. One thing that helps is contuing to give thanks for what we Do have. Having an attitude of gratitude is one way to he at peace with our situation. As. Paul said, “I have learned the secret of being content in every situation…” Even when he was suffering.

We can suffer in so many little and big things. When we got home from Washington our internet was out. I struggled with the fact that we weren’t going to have the possibilities that we were so used to having. I had to examine my emotions and realized that we are so blessed to have the lifestyle that we have.